The Wrong Prince Charming
by StarryRavenFire
Summary: ONESHOT. Getting the wrong person is bad. Falling off a balcony is worse! What about confessing your love to the person you love without knowing it was them? This is how Orihime's Halloween was spent. With the Wrong Prince Charming or no? [Complete]


31 October 2007

**Starry: **Happy Halloween everyone! I bring you this Halloween One-Shot! I did this for a Halloween contest held over at Five Lifetimes, One Love: The Ichigo and Orihime forum.

I started this very happy and full of ideas! But by the time I reached the end, I hated it and just wanted for it to burn and disappear! So if the ending sucks, I'm sorry! Also, I think people act ooc whenever they're in a close proximity of the person they like. Sooooooo if Ichigo seems ooc, blame his hormones or whatever. Besides, he's hard for me to get in character so don't hate!

Enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime or Ishida Uryuu!

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**The Wrong Prince Charming**

Orihime studied herself in her reflection and smiled when she saw that she wasn't recognizable. Today was Halloween and the annual Masquerade was being held over at her old high school. This year would be her third year attending that event and thanks to the previous years being nice, she was even more excited this year.

Her dress wasn't as poofy as most girls' dresses were but it was nice and the bodice fit her quite nicely. Her breasts weren't popping out like last year but they were being showed off quite elegantly. Her mask matched the color of her dress with beautiful green and orange feathers decorating it. A few green and orange beads surrounded the eye area making her look like an expensive princess waiting to be courted.

"I better hurry, I don't want to make Ishida-kun wait," Orihime finished putting on her elbow high gloves before turning around and walking out of her small apartment. Twenty-two year old Inoue Orihime happily made her way to her old high school while remembering a few past memories.

Five years had passed since the Winter War had ended with Soul Society as the victory holders. She'd been saved and brought home by Ichigo before she went off into battle and assisted her friends with healing as well as a few attack moves. After the war had ended and they'd graduated high school, Ichigo had decided to go to England and begin his medical training in a foreign school. That had saddened Orihime because she wouldn't see him anymore, but what could she do? Tie him down with her confession? No, she wasn't that evil.

The Karakura High School came into view and Orihime continued to make her way. She was attending the local university with Ishida and that was why he was her date tonight. Well it wasn't just because she was attending the university with him, but during these last five years they had grown close and their friendship had gotten stronger. Everyone else had gone their separate ways and even though Orihime knew where they were, she couldn't do anything to get close to them.

Rukia and Renji along with the other Soul Society residents were back in Soul Society doing their daily doings. Chad went back to Mexico to spend more time with his family while Keigo and Mizuiro left to attend the main university in Tokyo. They still visit at times but as the years went by, their visits became less frequent. Tatsuki went off with Chizuru and both girls became famous in the Junior Boxing World Champions before moving to Tokyo since the boxing matches are usually held there. The only ones that were left back in Karakura Town were Ishida and Orihime.

Opening the door, Orihime stepped in and the loud music engulfed her the second the door closed behind her. There wasn't much light in the room but she could see the outline of people that were dancing on the dance floor and the whole atmosphere was cheerful and positive. The young woman walked in and began weaving through the crowd while at the same time keeping an eye out for her date. What did Ishida say he was going to be dressed up as? Oh yeah! Prince Charming, right? White armor with a white sword. So all she had to do now was look around for Prince Charming.

A couple bumped into her from behind and Orihime apologized for getting in the way but the couple didn't seem to listen because they were too busy eating each other faces off. Orihime just shrugged and continued searching for Ishida. The song being played died, but only for an instant before another up beat song came on and the whole dance floor came alive once more. Feeling out of place, Orihime was about to turn around and leave when she spotted Prince Charming going up the stairs.

"Ah! Ishida-kun!" she yelled out, as she picked up her dress and began speed walking over to him. Ishida didn't seem to hear her because he continued walking up the stairs. "Wait, Ishida-kun!" she shouted once more, reaching the stairs and carefully stepping up. Maybe the music was too loud and that was why he couldn't hear her, right? So up the stairs she went, apologizing to a few kissing couples she bumped into as she went up.

"Ishida-kun!" She stopped when she noticed him pause in mid step to turn around and face her. "I've been calling you for the past few minutes! Didn't you hear me?" she asked, trying to catch her breath at the same time. Her mask felt itchy now and her chest was rising and falling quickly, her left hand on it trying to control her breathing. "I'm sorry, I've been going after you, let me catch my breath."

Ishida didn't say anything to her and just nodded. Orihime studied his outfit and she smiled and took a few steps towards him. "So this is Prince Charming! You look great! Your hair seems short though," she tilted her head to the side and wondered if he cut it the day before which had been the last time she saw him. His mask was shaped like that of a knight's helmet so she figured maybe that was why it looked short. "You still look great," she smiled; bowing down to play her part as the princess she was dressed up as.

The song ended and another one began, but this time the song was much slower and Orihime perked up. "Let's dance," she said, as she extended her hand out and took his to pull him towards her. Orihime then laced her fingers with his and rested her other hand on his shoulder. She sensed Ishida tense and she wondered what was wrong with him. "Are you okay?" she asked, trying to look into his eyes but his mask made it hard to see them. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

The young man shook his head before slowly taking her frame into his arms and resuming the dance. Orihime noticed that his arms were a bit more meaty then they were last time she'd felt them… which had been yesterday. Whoa! He must have worked out hard all last night! She giggled before resting her head on his chest.

"Ishida-kun, relax, we're just dancing," Why was he being weird and… tense? Also, why wasn't he talking to her? Did she do something to upset him? "Ishida-kun, did I say something bad?" She stopped dancing in mid step and looked up at him once more.

He only shook his head before starting to dance once more. He was no longer tense but Orihime could feel that Ishida wasn't okay with this arrangement, so she took a step back and pulled him towards the balcony. As she walked with his hand in hers, she could feel a sensation that she'd last felt when… her pace slowed down as her mind remembered him. Kurosaki Ichigo. Shaking her head so those thoughts would disappear, Orihime turned around and faced Ishida once more. The moon wasn't full and the light it was giving wasn't too bright so she couldn't really see much of his face under the mask.

"The way you're acting, Ishida-kun, reminds me of…" she bit her lip and averted her gaze to the concrete floor. "It reminds me of Kurosaki-kun." It had been a while since Ishida and she had last spoken about Ichigo. It was usually due to Orihime tearing up and confessing her love for Ichigo to Ishida. "I'm sorry, Ishida-kun, but it's been five years since we've last seen him and it hurts to keep these feelings inside without telling him. I know you told me that there would be a time for me to tell him but I don't think I'll ever be able to tell him how I feel." Orihime could feel a few tears sliding down under her mask and down her cheeks. It hurt so much to keep it all inside! Would she die with her secret? "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin this evening with me crying, I'm sorry, Ishida-kun." Why couldn't she get over Ichigo? Her love for him was just too special for her to throw it out.

Ishida just stood there facing her without moving forward to comfort her, which to Orihime was weird since that was something he always did when she got this way. Was he tired of hearing her talk about her feelings for Ichigo and not for him? Her eyes widened a bit and she shook her head. How selfish of her! How could she always talk about herself and not consider his feelings?

"I'm sorry, Ishida-kun, this is the last time I'll talk about this." She lifted her mask up to take it off and wiped a few tears from her eyes. Her bangs fell in place once more after she took the mask off and with watery eyes; she looked up into Ishida's mask eyes. "Thank you though," she let her hand fall to her side. "Thank you for keeping my secret about loving Kurosaki-kun. I'm very grateful to you for doing that for me and I think you deserve more than this but at the moment, this is all I can give you."

With that, Orihime closed the distance between Ishida and herself and got on her tiptoes (Whoa! Ishida-kun got taller too!) and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Inoue-san?"

Her eyes flew open and she quickly turned around and faced… "Ishida-kun!?" She looked back at the figure she'd just kissed and a horrified expression dawned on her features. "Ishida-kun, what are you doing here? I thought you were him…" If Ishida was there then who was this?? Her cheeks reddened a bit and Orihime felt her whole body grow warm.

Ishida took off his mask and shook his head. "I've been looking for you and I couldn't find you. Then I saw you coming out here with someone and I got curious to who it was. Now I know that this creep has taken advantage of you by passing himself off as me!" The Quincy walked up to the fake Ishida and got in between him and Orihime. "What were you planning to do to Inoue-san you ingrate?"

Orihime's face was hot and probably red because she'd just said personal things to a stranger and kissed him! "I'm sorry," she whispered to both Ishida and the stranger. "I thought you were my friend. Gomen!" she bowed down apologetically.

"No, Inoue-san, you don't need to apologize to him. He's the creep for tricking you! He doesn't even look like me!" Ishida's expression showed that he was really angry. Orihime felt even worse and just wanted to grab Ishida- kun's hand and leave the stranger alone.

The fake 'Prince Charming' just shook his head and took a step toward Orihime only to be stopped by Ishida who blocked his way. "Don't get near her."

"It's okay, Ishida-kun," Orihime looked at the stranger and tried to smile at him. "Don't be sorry, I'm sure it was a mistake in your par-" She couldn't finish because she was pushed by a couple that were dancing a very upbeat song. The fall wouldn't have been that bad if it hadn't been for Ishida who immediately tried to go to her and stop her from falling only to have him trip and push her over the short railing.

Swiftly, the fake Ishida ran towards the edge and grabbed Orihime's hand to keep her from falling to the ground. Suspended in air and frightened, Orihime bit her tongue to keep her from shouting and looked up at her savior right when his mask slid off. Even though the moon light wasn't that strong she could still make out the strangers face.

Her eyes widened and her heart nearly stopped. "K-Kurosaki-kun…?" Was this what she was seeing or was someone playing a cruel trick on her?

"Inoue," Ichigo tried to smile but the situation they were in at the moment wasn't one to smile about.

His voice! It had been so long since she last heard it and it sounded so beautiful! Her eyes teared up and she didn't care what situation she was in at the moment because Ichigo was there.

"Kurosaki! What are you doing? Pull her up already!" Ishida appeared beside Ichigo and stared down at Orihime. "Inoue-san! Hold on tight, we'll get you up."

"O-Okay," Orihime said, keeping her gaze fixated on Ichigo. After five years he was right here, holding her hand and looking into her eyes. Even though they were both hanging for their lives, but feeling Ichigo and seeing him was just much more important than anything else.

Her brown eyes widened and her heart began accelerating really fast when she felt her hand slip from his. With her right hand, that was just hanging there, she shot it up and tried to get a hold of his arm to keep her from sliding out of his grip. But gravity won and pulled her down and away from Ichigo. She opened her mouth but no scream would come and all she could see was Ichigo getting farther and farther away. Orihime blinked and found that he was gone. She felt foolish and scolded her brain for playing that trick on her. How could Ichigo be here in this masquerade? She closed her eyes and waited for her back to hit the ground so she could have an excuse to cry.

Her falling finally stopped but it wasn't due to the ground. Quickly, she opened her eyes and her stomach did a flip when her gaze landed on Ichigo's. He was standing there holding her bridal style with a worried expression on his face.

"K-Kurosaki-kun…" It came out in a whisper and Orihime couldn't stop her hand as it went up to gently caress his cheek. "It's really you!" Her arms went around his neck and she buried her face in his neck and cried.

"Kurosaki! What did you do to her!?" Ishida came running out from the sliding doors and glared at the substitute Shinigami. "Why is Inoue-san crying?" Even though he asked the question, the Quincy had a clear idea why she was crying.

"Inoue! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Carefully, he put her down on her feet. Placing one of his hands on her shoulder and placing the other one under her chin, he slowly lifted her face up and leaned in.

The girl's eyes were wide in shock and she almost stepped back but her legs kept her rooted to the ground. It was a good thing she didn't step back or else she would have missed the kiss Ichigo had leaned in to give her. His lips were so soft and the kiss just sent her to heaven! Finally! She cried in her mind, as her eyes fluttered to a close and she kissed him back.

"Inoue! Are you alright!? Inoue!"

"Inoue-san! You jerk! How could you let her go?"

"Me a jerk? You're the one that pushed her over the rail! It's your fault!"

"If you hadn't tricked her, this would not have happened!"

Orihime opened her eyes and found that she was on her back while Ichigo and Uryuu were both arguing on top of her. What had happened? She wondered, as she tried to sit up but only to stop due to the pain in her back.

"Itai!" What had happened?

"Inoue-san! Don't try to sit up! Here, I'll help you lay back down." Ishida kneeled down, making the metal in his suit squeak and clank together, and helped her lay back on the soft grass.

Ichigo also kneeled down, his suit making the same noise as well, and kept his gaze on the girl's face. "Don't move, Inoue, there is a chance that you might have fractured your back. You fell quite hard." He looked up at Ishida and glared at him before his look softened when he looked at her.

Uryuu shook his head. "Inoue-san, Kurosaki let you slip from his hand and you fell hard onto the ground! You were out for a good five minutes. Good thing Kurosaki was here to check up on you and make sure nothing serious happened to you."

"Eh?" She quickly sat up, ignoring the stab of pain in her back. "Kurosaki-kun touched me!?"

"Inoue! Lay back down! You could damage your spine!" Ichigo placed one of his arms on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down onto the ground. "I've called my father and he's bringing the car to take you to the clinic."

"Please, Inoue-san, don't make any more movements." Ishida's expression showed concern and Orihime only nodded. She knew how much she meant to Ishida and felt both good and bad.

The grass was cool against the tips of her fingers and she was glad that her thick princess dress was able to protect her from the dew. Still, it couldn't protect her from the fall and even though she felt fine, Ichigo had that expression of unease and it made her feel… good. Not in a bad way, but in the way that meant that he cared for her! After all these years, he had finally given her that expression!

"What happened?"

Orihime turned her head and looked over to see Kurosaki Isshin rush over with what seemed like a foldable lawn chair. Was that what they were going to take her in?

Ichigo stood up and took the thing from his father's hand and kneeled down once more to help Orihime get on it. "Inoue fell from the balcony and I'm worried she might have fractured her back, so I'm taking her to the clinic."

Isshin looked at his son. "Ichigo, that's not even a balcony, it's probably twelve feet high…"

The Bleached haired young man glared up at his father, clearly annoyed. "She fell over! Doesn't that say emergency to you?? Ishida, help me get Inoue on here and let's go."

Quickly, Uryuu walked over to where Orihime and Ichigo were and assisted the substitute Shinigami in putting Orihime on the stretcher. Once done, he wondered if he should go with them or stay here. He wanted to go and see if Orihime had attained any serious injury but knew that this would be a perfect time for her to finally tell Ichigo how she felt for him. Though, hadn't she already done that when she mistook Ichigo for him?

"Are you coming, Ishida?" Ichigo was looking back at the Quincy with a raised brow; Orihime slightly sat up and peeked over at him from the backseat.

"I'll catch up later. I need to find Inoue-san's coat and my sword, and then I'll go and join you."

Ichigo stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Alright, hurry up." He closed the door and got in the passenger seat.

Orihime was still looking at Ishida as the car drove away. She found her eyes tearing up a bit as she thanked him with all her heart because she had not taken a coat and he had his sword right there with him. She knew what Ishida had done, he'd lied so that Ichigo and her would have some time together. She closed her eyes and lay back down on the stretcher and watched as the street lights flew by illuminating everything for a second before going back to darkness.

Once they arrived at the Kurosaki Clinic and household, Orihime was quickly taken in and checked up by Isshin, because the older Kurosaki said he was more skilled in finding fractured bones than Ichigo was. Ichigo agreed and did not argue, so he went to his old room and waited for his father to finish doing his job. In the end, Orihime was not diagnosed with any broken bones or anything series, just a swollen back muscle but Isshin gave her a pill to lessen the swell, the pain and the bruising.

When she was done, Orihime found Ichigo waiting for her outside of the clinic. A blush rose to her cheeks as she recalled everything she'd told him earlier in the night. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun." That was all that could come out of her mouth, and she meant it too! The girl wanted to apologize to him and tell him that everything she'd said was a lie, but it would be obvious that she was trying to cover it up for being true.

Ichigo looked at her with no emotion before turning up to look at the stars. "I didn't think I'd ever return back here." Orihime didn't say anything or any noise, she just looked at him and wondered why he'd made that decision but didn't want to ask. "But I always felt something was not right while I was over there." He glanced down at her and his hands slid inside his pockets. "I was surprised to see you at the masquerade ball calling out Ishida's name. The first thing that came to my mind was that you two were dating."

In her head she wondered what he'd felt when he thought that but dared not ask it. Just listening to him speak to her like this was something she'd been aching to do for a very long time. When was the last time where they had talked with no one else in the picture?

"I thought, 'She has the wrong prince charming!'" Ichigo chuckled at this and took a step towards her. "I wanted to say, 'Ishida as prince charming is a joke,' but I figured that would be mean and you might get offended." He shrugged, his attention moving up to the sky once more. "So… are you guys dating?"

A small smile found its way on her face and the girl shook her head. "Ishida-kun is not a joke as a prince charming! He makes a good one. I think it's you who makes a bad prince charming." She was still smiling as she said this, but she was leaning forward a little like a little girl excited to share her secret. "You were rude to the princess! She was talking to you and even dancing with you and all you did was stay quiet and be stiff! The princess thought she was doing a horrible job!" She paused and she looked as though she was debating on something. "The princess and Sir Ishida Prince Charming are very good friends, that's all." Her hands were behind her back clasped together and her eyes were shining while her mouth was set into a beautiful smile.

Ichigo was now staring at her as though in a trance. The world seemed to continue moving but the ones who were frozen in a moment were him and her, the prince and the princess.

He felt relieved to find out that they weren't dating and he had to look away though, because this was making him feel weird. He'd returned to search for that missing purpose in his life and it scared him a bit to find that right now, he felt complete.

Orihime straightened up and her smile faded the instant she noticed Ichigo staring at her intently. Warmth rose to her cheeks and she felt exactly how she'd felt back when they were teenagers: Self conscious. The coolness of the night slowly started penetrating her outfit and she wondered if this was a sign to part ways for now. She'd said too much and even though he hadn't said anything about it, it was enough for tonight.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun, I have to-"

"When I said wrong prince charming, I meant Ishida."

"Eh?" Confused at what he'd just said, Orihime tilted her head to the side a bit and gave Ichigo a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that when I thought you had the wrong prince charming I didn't mean me, but Ishida." Ichigo was serious when he said this and Orihime felt the tiny pebbles of goose bumps begin to appear in her arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused…" She really was because she had no idea what he was talking about. "Are you saying that you're really the prince charming?"

"Not the prince charming…" Orihime could see the muscles in jaw tightening and found herself in a form of shock when she saw Ichigo look away in a way a bashful person turns away. "but _your_ prince charming." He cleared his throat before turning to look at her once more. "The princess wasn't doing a bad job; she was doing a really good job. She had the prince tricked into thinking that it was just them in the world." His smile was small but growing, making Orihime feel butterflies flutter softly in her stomach. A feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Kurosaki-kun…"

She didn't finish because Ichigo leaned in and her eyes fluttered to a close. Oh! This is what happened in movies! Her head screamed, her arms slowly going up to embrace him. What she felt next wasn't a fairytale kiss… His nose and her nose had bumped into each other and they both uttered an 'ow'. Orihime opened her eyes and saw Ichigo's face right in front of her. He leaned forward and his forehead touched her's.

"Great, my big nose ruined the moment, now it's awkward..." He laughed, his eyes closing.

Orihime felt her heart catch and the need to finish what she'd started a long time ago came to her. Both of her hands went up to his face to cup it, her eyes closing as she leaned in. Her lips met his in a soft and warm kiss and the memory of their younger selves appeared in her mind.

An unconscious Ichigo laying on his bed and a tearful Orihime as she leaned in closer and closer to him… but guilt had pulled her back up. With what she'd thought would be her final goodbye, she'd left it unfinished. But now, now she was able to complete it and kiss him.

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, feeling her own tearing up. Ichigo looked alarmed and wondered if he'd done something wrong. "Are you okay? Did you not want this? I'm sor-"

"No! It's just that… I…" She took a step back and wiped her eyes. "I'm just really happy right now it's like I've won the award for best cook!"

Ichigo stared at her with a raised brow before cracking a smile. He took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "This might sound so out of character for me, but I'm glad I came back. I'm really glad." He closed his eyes and nuzzled into her hair.

Orihime too wrapped her arms around him and embraced him in a tight hug. She buried her face in his neck but only for a moment because his armor was poking her and it kind of hurt. She stepped back and laughed at their little moment being interrupted by silly things.

"Sorry…" Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"It's okay." She studied him for a moment when a question popped into her head. "Ano, Kurosaki-kun why did you dress up as that?" She cocked her head to the side and waited for his reply.

"My dad put it on my bed and told me about the masquerade. He said I should go out and have some fun and enjoy my first night being back home. I thought he was stupid for suggesting that, but now I'm glad I listened to him." He shrugged, "I seriously didn't know Ishida was going-"

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime's eyes widened and Ichigo turned around to find the Quincy standing behind him. He noted the Quincy's expression was a bit gloomy but the other boy quickly changed the look into a calm one when he moved his gaze over to Orihime.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything…" The young man pushed his glasses up with his finger and was about to turn around but the big breasted girl stopped him. He looked down at her hand on his arm and felt like pulling it away but seeing her smiling face made him stay like that.

"You didn't interrupt anything! We were just going back to the ball. We should head back together, ne, Kurosaki-kun?" She turned back to look at Ichigo.

The orange haired Shinigami nodded, his signature scowl on his face. "Ishida and I are going to look like twins! He should go change."

Ishida glared at the Ichigo. "I got this first! You're the one who copied me!"

"I didn't even choose this costume my dad did!"

"Was it because you still can't do anything right!?

"What? Shut up you idiot!"

Orihime just smiled and felt so happy to have to know that some things never changed. Even though they all went their separate directions and so many things happened, they would always be close. Especially Ichigo and her, she felt like a door had happened and it was going to be kept open. She slowed down her pace and watched the two guys argue about their similar costume. Her heart beat excitedly against her chest and she probably would have stayed like that if Ichigo hadn't stopped walking and called out her name.

"Inoue, are you okay?"

"Hai! Gomen!" The girl picked up her dress' skirt to run and joined the man she loved and her best friend.**  
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**Starry: **IchiHime is Love. 


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